hail to the queen
by Sokudo Ningyou
Summary: It began innocently, as all things do. For righteousness, the victor is always right. Finished ficlet; a freeflow piece, done in about 20 minutes.


hail to the queen.  
by sokudo ningyou  
notes at the end.

* * *

It had begun innocently enough, as most events do; a trip into the future to save the world. To save what they soon found out were themselves, future soldiers and a king and a queen, the shining stars of their newborn kingdom. There was an enemy attempting to destroy the peace; and they, as guardians of the planet Earth, had to stop them.

That was their mission. Defeat the enemy attacking Earth, restore the order of the kingdom, and go home, righteous. Knowing they had done the right thing.

And some part of him questioned that, as he stared up into her face. "Serenity…?"

* * *

"I had wanted to capture the child as well; but you are what I really came for." Demand had stared into her face as he pulled her closer, helpless, as he teleported them both away. Away from her Mamo-chan, past and future tense; away from her friends and from safety. Because of his haste, he had teleported too harshly for her, and she had fallen unconscious after his words.

Waking up had been a nightmare come true; a strange bed in a strange room, dressed in the clothes of a stranger. She was no longer a soldier, but merely Tsukino Usagi, her brooch on the bed as if it were some useless jewelry instead of her most powerful tool. Helpless and dizzy, she had been unprepared for Demand's arrival and show of power; the _Jakokuzuishou_, he had said, would not allow her to use the pure power of the _Ginzishou_.

"The past form of Neo Queen Serenity…you are the same, but something different lingers in your eyes. Even as you stare at me in hatred." He came closer, tried to kiss her.

"_Iie_!"

"Don't fight me; from now, you will be my queen. With the power of our crystals combined, we will conquer all of time and space. Together,  
Serenity, imagine it!" Again, he tried to kiss her, and when she struggled, pinned her down with his power.

"Why would you do this? I'm not the Neo Queen…I'm just an ordinary girl. I love my Mamo-chan!" Pure terror seized her as he held her immobile, but her brooch had stubbornly refused to help her. It could not; terror did not inspire hope, which had always been the catalyst for her greatest strength. In her hand, it remained cold.

"Why? Because of our dismissal from the blue Earth. Because of your beauty and cold eyes. Because no one should be forced to suffer as I and my family suffered, so far from home." His voice had been bitter, his eyes pitiless. "You, the Neo Queen, exiled my ancestors from Earth for refusing the cleansing power of the _Ginzuishou_. For our choice, we were banished on a whim. Now, we merely desire our home. The fresh air, and the green grass. Do you know how such beauty effects me, when I have grown up with black skies and thin, cold air?"

She had stared at him, confusion in her crystal blue eyes. A softening. After all, her heart knew no boundaries, no limits to her capacity for forgiveness. How could she have summarily dismissed his people? In the future, had she grown so very different? "_Gomen_ _nasai_," she whispered. "I didn't know…but surely, that isn't a reason for the angry destruction of the planet!"

Demand sneered, though his gaze had drifted away, up towards a broken window. The power holding her captive disappeared as his eyes narrowed, focusing for a split second on a black shadow. So engrossed in watching him, Usagi never thought to look herself and wonder. "I have no love for destruction," he said slowly, after a long moment of silence. "Not for this blue Earth. I've dreamt of reclaiming it for my family. Wouldn't you do such a thing, when you've been unjustly denied?"

The _odango_-haired blonde had bitten her lip. It was not so unfair a question; not for one who had lived a previous life, who had been unfairly murdered by people who had wanted to take her world away. And what had she done, as the princess? Taken revenge. She had lifted the wand, said the words, and cleansed the world of Metallia. She had willingly killed an entity and its body, the living Beryl. And here she sat, staring at the irony. She had done this. She had denied them choice. In the future, she had done no better than Beryl and her lust for control.

"How?" she had whispered faintly, staring at her hands. Her white, clean hands, her brooch a heavy weight in the palm of her right. The fear was forgotten; all that remained now was sorrow. Sadness for a little boy with white hair, who had lived in a cold world. "How could I have done this? This is my tragedy."

Demand had stared at her, a mixture of surprise and suspicion on his face. For him, knowing all his life the cold and distant Neo Queen, this was a strange and welcome change. A bit of radiance in his dark world.

The possibility of hope.

He had taken her hand, closing her fingers over her brooch. "_Iie_. Not yet."

* * *

He had shown her everything.

The Black Moon Citadel was a marvel of crystal that resembled the small city that the survivors had managed to build on Nemesis. Shining walls and cleverly cut windows, furniture molded from corners. It was sparse but clean, making due with what the forbidding planet had given them.

In the control chambers, Saphir showed her, at his brother's urging, the _Jakokuzuishou_, explaining to her how it controlled their generators and power. On Nemesis, it helped to nurture the gardens they had so carefully cultivated from the seeds they had gathered before their banishment, for the planet could never support them without help. If the crystal was destroyed, their entire culture was dead.

(The vague, unfocused memory of planets falling into chaos, kingdoms collapsing as their power structures failed…)

In the kitchens, she had a bite from their evening meal, and nearly spit it out. Terrible, tasteless stuff; and that was all they had to survive. And they had not all worked up a tolerance for the Earth plants that were now a distant ancestor from their own supply, so they could not diversify their diet. Usagi could imagine now how the Ayakashi could be so terribly happy in 20th century Tokyo, free of their hardship.

So much suffering, and she was the cause of it.

As they had walked, she forgot that she had been kidnapped, forgot to fear the man who laughed at her clumsy joke; he had been transformed into a victim. A victim she had created. He took her hand as gallantly as her Mamo-chan, held open the door for her to enter first, introduced her at her urging as Tsukino Usagi-san. The brooch, still in her hand, remained cold. She had no urge to use it.

Why had she ever?

Finally, she had had enough.

"Demand-san…for a year, I've been Sailor Moon. Luna gave me a brooch, and told me to use the magic words. To fight for justice, as a sailor soldier." Opening her hand, she had stared at her second item, tracing the star with a finger. "I thought I was doing the right thing, fighting evil. Queen Beryl destroyed the Silver Millennium; so I…I killed her." She could hear the echo of her scream, sometimes, as she slept; and perhaps Metallia had killed Beryl herself, as she had taken her body; but it didn't matter. It had been her hands wielding the wand. Her words, calling forth her friends and their magic. Before Luna had given her the memories back, she had thought she was going mad hearing that voice.

The truth was not preferable over the lie.

"I don't understand how a person can hold hatred in their heart. How they can force a decision on someone else. I'm just Tsukino Usagi, an ordinary girl. And an ordinary girl can make a different choice.

"But it's the princess who has to make it change."

* * *

When the Black Moon clan had attacked earlier than anticipated, everyone was caught off guard.

Tuxedo Kamen had returned from the citadel empty-handed and cold, furious at his failure to protect his princess. He had been thrown off the building by a powerful magic, giving him several bruises and scrapes, just enough to cripple him from climbing again.

They had been planning a mission to the citadel to rescue Sailor Moon when the entire palace shook. Running outside, they had found themselves surrounded at the door by the clan; who should not have been able to enter the palace walls proper, being unclean. Momentarily stunned by the impossibility, the sailor soldiers had been easily thrown back and defeated.

King Endymion's ghost had been destroyed by a gesture.

And when they had been gathered en masse to face their enemy, they had been stunned to watch the crowd part; to see the familiar face and blonde hair; to see her take Demand's hand as if she had always been there. "_Minna_. _Gomen_ nasai. But we were wrong."

Telling them what she had realized had been hard enough. That she had done right, finally; that the city of Crystal Tokyo and their lord and lady had been wrong to banish the Black Moon clan. That she had realized what she had done, and decided to fix it by opening the metaphoric gates and allowing them to come back. All they wanted, after all, was to return to Earth.

But she could see their faces were disbelieving, stunned.

"Usagi-can…how could you do this?" Venus whispered, tears in her eyes. "Love and justice…what they've done is evil!"

"Think of Chibi-Usa, and what they would have done to her!" Mercury pleaded, holding the child's hand.

"You have to be under their power; fight them, Usagi-chan! For our future!" Jupiter cried, clenching her fists with a crackle of electricity.

Mars said nothing. Mars merely stared, accusingly. Mars, the girl she fought with and argued with; Mars, the girl who had died for her in a world of snow; Mars, the girl who she knew adored her, even if she didn't say it.

It was her eyes that had driven her back, sinking to her knees. Huddled into herself, she said nothing as the Black Moon clan forced them to relinquish their transformations, took their henshin sticks, and sent them into exile along with her child. She felt the cold sinking into her heart, a leaden sensation so at odds with the glittering crystal she could wield. Hardening into something else.

When they brought Mamoru before Demand – for he was no longer Tuxedo Kamen in his dapper coat and cape, but the mortal man – she finally stirred. Looked up. Crawled to her feet and touched his face.

She didn't know what surprised him, at the end; perhaps it was that she had gone against them, even if it was with her best intentions. Perhaps it was that she was willing to give him up, to secure a happy future for those she had wronged.

Or perhaps it was the cold shadow that burned upon her brow, the crescent sigil becoming a dark parody of birthright. "Serenity?" he whispered, for he knew it couldn't be his Usako. "_Masaka_…"

"Mamo-chan. Endymion. _Gomen_ _ne_. But this world deserves a second chance, without the sins of my hands. I will lead it into the light." She kissed him with a clumsy passion, tongue questing for his; but as he fought her, she gave up. Released him. "Don't fight us, Endymion. Your blue Earth will be beautiful."

Demand took her offered hand. She could feel something change within her; perception, perhaps. Or maybe that hope was no longer her guide, but righteousness. It thrilled her soul as she lifted her other hand, destroying the existence of Wiseman with a gesture. "Begone, treacherous creature," she said as the power flowed through her body. "We have no need of darkness anymore."

The Black Moon clan was stunned, but not entirely averse, as she turned to face them, smiling, radiant. A perfect match of silver and white to match that of her prince; a diamond. They were kneeling before her without being prompted, knowing her poise. "I am your queen. I am your lady.

"I am Serenity. And this will be our new world."

**Fin.**

* * *

Notes -

I don't know. Maybe I'm high.


End file.
